The wolf pack versus the herd… a tale as old as time.
It only makes sense that this incredible video below took place in Yellowstone National Park. There’s an estimated 5,400 bison that call the beautiful national park home, and around 120 wolves also reside in Yellowstone territory. That might not seem like a lot, but the Northern Rocky Mountain area only trails the Western Great Lakes area and the state of Alaska in wild wolf population.
Alaska’s numbers are estimated in the tens of thousands, in case you were wondering.
Though the wolves might be outnumbered in Yellowstone, the canines have been known to hunt down bison. That being said, they often need to form a pack and work together to take down just one of the big beasts. The only problem? As you might imagine, bison are rather tough creatures and can be quite challenging to bring down.
They might appear top heavy, but they’re hard to topple over.
The predatory animals have the best chance to make a meal out of a bison when they are able to sequester one off on its own (away from the herd), which is easier said than done. Bison do practice that “herd mentality” thing that you’ve likely heard of, meaning that they will often stand up for one another in an effort to keep their entire group safe. The word for that – if you might recall – is utilitarianism.
One of the ways bison herds avoid attacks is by putting it into drive all at once and running as a herd. Though often affective, the strategy can sometimes backfire and make it easier for wolves, or whatever is chasing the large land animals, to get at least one bison to break away. But it didn’t work out that way for the hungry wolves this time.
This wolf pack was doing everything it could to single out a bison from the herd, but the 2,000 pound beasts were playing things safe. The bison herd mostly just kept things moving, but on occasion, they’d choose to turn around and valiantly stand their ground. If one bison (or a small group of them) broke off from the herd, the rest of the bison moved together towards the lone bison, always maintaining the numbers.
I’m no expert on bison herds, but this one in particular had evidently been around the block a time or two and appeared to be familiar with how wolves try to hunt them.
The canines weren’t backing down, but they weren’t making any progress either. If the wolves got closer to the herd, bison that were grouped on the outer lines pointed themselves towards the potential danger and stuck together. All in all, it was a masterclass in herd strength.
And honestly, it’s a really cool video to be captured. Though there’s no real attack featured in the clip, and the wolves were ultimately unsuccessful in their hunt, the footage still showcases the strategies that both bison use to protect themselves and wolves use when hunting. The tense standoff was a literal and figurative display of butting heads.
Check it out:
